Alternately
by RavieSnake
Summary: What if Albus had gone with Gellert? What if his duel with him and Aberforth had never happened and Ariana had not died? This. This is what would have happened. Short oneshot. Pre-first war AU.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from it. I make no money from the writing/publishing of this story.**

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Ariana stood at the window looking out at the peaceful countryside. She smiled absentmindedly as she gently rubbed the cold black, angular stone between the pads of her fingers.

Percival's ghostly form idled in the corner just behind her, his face toward her with an approving fatherly expression.

"Are you feeling well, my love?" he called to her in a soft voice.

"Yes, quite, Papa," she answered, still smiling at her reflection in the glass and the meadows beyond.

It was true. She had been well for years now, thanks to her father's careful and patient mentoring and love, and of course to Albus for making her visits with her father possible.

Ariana glanced down at the stone in her hands. She closed her eyes, recalling the morning when Albus and Uncle Gellert presented her with it.

"It is only on loan you understand," Albus had said as he pressed the Resurrection stone into her palm, "We will take it whenever we are in need of its powers."

She had nodded back in agreement and understanding even as her hand had closed around the priceless stone.

She had been so miserable in those days. No one understood her longing and guilt. She long had thought that if only she had her father back, it would all fade away. She'd feel no more guilt at causing the deaths of her parents. Feel no more shame that it was her magic that had destroyed her family.

So, when she'd turned that stone over in her hand the third time and felt the ancient magic pulse from it as her father materialized from the depths of Hades, she experienced an exhilaration and freedom like never before.

Ariana opened her eyes again and continued to think on the events that had occurred in her life since that morning.

Before her brother had discovered his Hallows, she thought she would never be happy again. In fact, on the morning he first left to seek them, when Aberforth had tried to persuade him not to go for her sake, and Albus had told him in no uncertain terms he was going to continue his work and left with Gellert, she had felt angry and abandoned. She hated him even.

How could he have left her alone with Aberforth? She loved her other brother, certainly, more than Albus, in fact, but he was clumsy and easily frustrated. Albus' leaving only increased her depression and misery.

But when he returned with that stone…

When Albus and Gellert first announced their success in finding the Hallows and demonstrated their combined power, they'd practically been handed the Ministry. They became the most powerful wizards in the world virtually overnight. And with Gellert's deceit and ruthlessness and Albus's charm and intelligence it wasn't long before they had persuaded the International Confederation of Wizards to lift the Statute of Secrecy. The Muggle world and the Wizarding world finally became one. It had been her brother's second redeeming gift.

She was no longer an outcast. She'd never be an outcast again.

Muggles were finally controlled. From where they lived, to how quickly they bred…everything was regulated by the wizards that now freely walked among them without fear of reprisal. Magic was simply superior. Muggles needed to be kept in check.

The Ministry motto ' _For the greater good'_ was adopted by the International Confederation. Gellert had made sure of it.

Every witch and wizard grew-up reciting it. It was law. It was logic. It was necessary.

Ariana narrowed her eyes out the window as she watched Albus and Gellert suddenly appear from their garden. A smile tugged at her lips as she watched them exchange a kiss.

She owed them so much…but of course, she mused, they owed her as well. She'd saved their precious power for them, hadn't she?

To the great surprise of many, Ariana was discovered to be exceptionally talented. The magical prowess she possessed that had become unpredictable and dangerous by the incident of her youth was harnessed and brought under control with the guidance and counsel of her father's returned spirit. Her powers, with time and practice, rivaled Albus' and Gellert's combined.

 _She_ was the best consequence of her brother's achievements. No one could match her now.

Even that irksome troublemaker Tom Riddle, who'd felt that Gellert's ideas of Muggle control weren't quite severe enough, had been defeated with one swish of her wand. Him and his little band of miscreants.

 _Death Eaters_ …hardly.

She smiled even wider at the memory of her triumphs. She was now as famous as her older brother, and just as revered. She felt no more shame. She felt nothing but pride now. She was mighty and…

Ariana frowned suddenly. She had wanted to say mighty and invincible, but as long as she was mortal she'd never be truly invincible. She squeezed the Resurrection stone in her hand and turned her head to look over her shoulder at her father's ethereal image.

"Papa?"

"Yes, my love?" Percival asked languidly.

Ariana smiled at him sweetly and said, "What do you know about Horcruxes?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 **A/N: This is a reworking of a short I did some years ago on Mugglenet Interactive under the name squirrelpatronus14. Yeah…so, this was way back before I even knew what fanfiction really was. I just wrote it at the time to earn some fake Galleons. I recently rediscovered it on an old laptop and thought I'd share it.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


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